Medication compliance and management device

ABSTRACT

A medication dispenser is provided which includes compartments uniquely arranged with respect to time, for example, by time of day and/or day of week. Each compartment may contain pills in accordance with a pharmaceutical regimen such that consuming the pills within the compartments at the appropriate time as arranged with respect to time may maintain a patient&#39;s compliance with the pharmaceutical regimen. Additionally, a medication compliance and management method is provided which includes the steps of a) reviewing a pharmaceutical regimen of a patient to reduce a complexity of the pharmaceutical regimen, b) providing a quantity of medication dispensers in accordance with the reviewed pharmaceutical regimen with pills of the pharmaceutical regimen organized within the medication dispensers to further reduce the complexity of the pharmaceutical regimen, c) tracking the quantity of provided medication dispensers to determine when the quantity of medication dispensers will be depleted, d) contacting a prescribing doctor to obtain authorization to refill additional medication dispensers, and e) delivering refilled medication dispensers to the patient.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a medication dispensingmethod, and more particularly to a medication dispenser and to a methodof aiding patients to remain compliant with a complicated pharmaceuticalregimen by providing the patient with a quantity of medicationdispensers, tracking the quantity of medication dispensers in possessionof the patient, contacting a prescribing doctor to obtain authorizationto refill additional medication dispensers, and delivering refilledmedication dispensers to the patient.

In life, unfortunate conditions occur such that people becomehospitalized and/or require medication. The medication needed may haveto be taken over the course of a patient's lifetime or merely for ashort interim period while the patient is recovering. In either case,the patient at times may be taking a plurality of different types ofpills. The pills may have to be taken every day or every other day.Additionally, the pills may have to be taken at different intervalsthroughout the day on which they are taken. Perhaps, individually, eachpill consumption requirement as to the day of the week and the time ofday may be very simple and may be complied with by the patient throughmemory. However, if the patient must take more than a few differenttypes of pills, then the consumption requirement for the aggregate ofall the pills increase a complexity of a pharmaceutical regimen.

At times, compliance with the pharmaceutical regimen may determine thesurvival of a person's life. In this regard, the patient may have to beconfined to a hospital if the drug regimen is so complex that thepatient may forget to consume one pill and thereby possibly cause deathor serious bodily injury. As such, due to complex pharmaceuticalregimens, some patients must become hospitalized to ensure theirsurvival.

Accordingly, there is a need for a method and/or device for aidingpatients to remain compliant with a pharmaceutical regimen.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method isprovided which aids patient in remaining compliant with a complexpharmaceutical regimen. The method discussed in the detailed descriptionof the invention includes the following steps: reviewing apharmaceutical regimen of a patient, providing the patient with aquantity of medication dispensers, tracking the quantity of themedication dispensers, contacting a prescribing doctor to obtainauthorization to refill additional medication dispensers, and deliveringthe refilled medication dispensers to the patient. The method and themedication dispenser within the method stated above, in particular, aidsthe patient in staying compliant with the pharmaceutical regimen. Thisis accomplished by improving the communication between the prescribingdoctor and the pharmacist, simplifying the pharmaceutical regimen to thegreatest extent possible, and presenting the pharmaceutical regimen inan organized fashion to the patient such that the pharmaceutical regimenis easily rememberable.

The communication between the prescribing doctor and the pharmacist maybe improved through the use of the method in conjunction with themedical dispenser, as discussed below and within the detaileddescription of the present invention. The medication dispenser aids inimproving the communication between the prescribing doctor and thepharmacist by placing the complete pharmaceutical regimen of the patienton an indicia flap of the medication dispenser. In this way, both thepharmacist and the prescribing doctor may view the completepharmaceutical regimen and determine whether the pharmaceutical regimenof the patient contains any outdated drugs which have been replaced bynew and improved pills. Additionally, the pharmacist may review theindicia flap to check for any adversely interacting pills within thepharmaceutical regimen. The above described adjustments to thepharmaceutical regimen may be accomplished by the pharmacist and/or theprescribing doctor.

As discussed above and in the detailed description of the presentinvention, the review may check for redundancy within the pharmaceuticalregimen, for any adversely interacting pills within the pharmaceuticalregimen, and among other things, a determination of whether thepharmaceutical regimen contains any outdated drugs which are no longerin use. These adjustments may help the patient to remain compliant withthe pharmaceutical regimen in that the pharmaceutical regimen issimplified to the greatest extent. For example, if the pharmaceuticalregimen contained three pills which had to be taken at various intervalsthroughout the day and throughout the week and through the reviewprocess one of the three pills was eliminated then the pharmaceuticalregimen is made less complex.

The medical dispenser may have the indicia flap and a pill flap whichare foldable on top of each other. When the indicia flap and the pillflap are placed in the open position, the indicia which may be locatedon the left side may have various printed matter such as a picture orsketch of the drug, drug information, indication (i.e., purpose ofdrug), directions, and warnings. The pill flap when the medicationdispenser is in the open position reveals a plurality of compartmentswhich are arranged by the day of the week and various times of the day.The pills which are indicated or identified on the indicia flap may becontained within the compartments. The pills contained within thecompartments are appropriately placed therein such that consuming thepills contained in a specific compartment as to the day of week and timeof day will place the patient in compliance with the pharmaceuticalregimen. In this regard, the patient need not remember the variousrequirements in relation to the various pills within the pharmaceuticalregimen because the compartments arranged on the pill flap as to thetime of day and day of week indirectly instruct the patient as to theintervals at which the patient must consume the pills.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An illustrative and presently preferred embodiment of the invention isshown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method of aiding patients remain compliantwith a pharmaceutical regimen and includes use of a medication dispenserwhich may organize a complex pharmaceutical regimen to the patient in aneasily rememberable manner and may be used to communicate thepharmaceutical regimen between a pharmacist and prescribing doctors;

FIG. 2 is the medication dispenser of FIG. 1 in an unassembledperspective view and illustrates a summary of the pharmaceutical regimenon an indicia flap which may provide instructions to a clerk fillingmedication dispenser compartments;

FIG. 3 is the medication dispenser of FIG. 1 in an assembled perspectiveview and illustrates pills that are contained in compartments may bereadily identifiable by quick reference to an indicia flap; and

FIG. 4 is a front view of the medication dispenser in a closed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The drawings referred to herein are for the purpose of illustrating thepreferred embodiments of the present invention and not for the purposeof limiting the same. Specifically, FIG. I illustrates a medicationcompliance and management method which includes step 10 of reviewing apharmaceutical regimen of a patient, step 20 of providing the patientwith a medication dispenser in accordance with the reviewedpharmaceutical regimen, step 30 of tracking a quantity of medicationdispensers 100, step 40 of contacting a prescribing doctor to obtainauthorization to refill additional medication dispensers 100, and step50 of delivering the refilled medication dispenser 100 to the patient.

In the reviewing step 10, unless the context otherwise requires orsuggests, the pharmaceutical regimen may be a requirement placed onpatients to consume pills 102 in a particular manner. For example, thepharmaceutical regimen may be a requirement that the patient consume afirst pill 102 three times a day, seven days a week, and a second pill102 two times a day, every other day. Additionally, the pharmaceuticalregimen may refer to the actual pills.

The reviewing step 10 may be an optional step in the method stated abovebut the reviewing step 10 is preferable based on the following purposesof the reviewing step which are only representative and not inclusive ofall the purposes which may be accomplished during the review of thepharmaceutical regimen. The review process may be for the purpose ofeliminating redundancy within the pharmaceutical regimen. The review maybe performed to determine whether there are any interactions between theprescribed pills 102 which may adversely interact with each other. Inthis regard, the review may determine whether some of the pills 102should and may be taken at different intervals from adverselyinteracting pills 102. The review may additionally be performed todetermine whether there are other alternative pills 102 which may eitherbe less expensive or a better alternative so as to benefit the patientmonetarily and/or in terms of the patient's health. Moreover, the reviewmay accomplish the purpose of determining whether some of the pills 102are outdated and have other better alternatives on the pharmaceuticalmarket. The review process ultimately may benefit the patient becausethe review process may eliminate pills from the pharmaceutical regimenand thereby simplify the pharmaceutical regimen such that the patient ismore likely to remain compliant with their pharmaceutical regimen.

The review process in view of its purposes becomes increasinglyimportant as the pharmaceutical regimen becomes more complex. A complexpharmaceutical regimen may include a plurality of pills 102 with eachpill 102 being taken at different times of the day and at differentintervals during the week. The pharmaceutical regimen may be furthercomplexified due to the chemical interactions between pills 102 withinthe pharmaceutical regimen which may require the patient to take thepills 102 in a certain sequence such as after a meal. In this regard,the review process may be crucial in reducing the complexity of thepharmaceutical regimen of the patient.

The pharmaceutical regimen of the patient may further be complexified asthe patient ages. Oftentimes, the patient will consult with a doctorconcerning health related issues of the patient. The doctor mayprescribe medication as warranted by the health related issues of thepatient. As discussed in the background of the invention, as a patientages, additional health related issues arise and compound with priorexisting health related issues. In this regard, generally, as patientsage, the patient may be required to take an increasing amount of pills102 to further complicate their current pharmaceutical regimen.

The pharmaceutical regimen of the patient may further be complexifiedbecause the patient may be under the care of a plurality of doctors. Inthis regard, the patient may obtain prescriptions by different doctorswith prescriptions that are redundant or otherwise, obsolete. Forexample, especially, in today's age of doctor specialties such as ear,nose and throat doctors (“ENT doctors”), at times, the patient may berequired to consume medication prescribed by both a general doctor andthe specialist wherein the communication between the doctor and thespecialist may be impaired. The impairment may be a result of the doctorhaving a different preferred medication to treat the same health relatedissue of the patient compared to the specialist. Furthermore, thetime/cost constraints of the doctor and the specialist may impair thecommunication between the two doctors. The result of poor communicationbetween the prescribing doctor(s) and pharmacist in addition to poorcommunication that may exist between the patient and prescribingdoctor(s) may result in various errors in the overall pharmaceuticalregimen of the patient. The various errors may include redundancy ofpills 102 and inclusion of outdated pills 102 within the pharmaceuticalregimen.

The review may be accomplished by a health care professional (HCP) suchas the prescribing doctor but is preferably reviewed by the pharmacistgiven that the pharmacist may have more extensive training inpharmacology. There are additional problems if the prescribing doctorwere to review the pharmaceutical regimen in that the doctor may not bereviewing the complete pharmaceutical regimen. As stated above, theprescribing doctor may be one of many prescribing doctors. For example,the prescribing doctor may be a general doctor. Apart from the generaldoctor, the patient may have been referred to a specialist such as anENT specialist which the general doctor may not have knowledge about andmay have prescribed other pills to the patient. In this regard, theremay be a lack of communication between the various prescribing doctors.Unlike the various doctors which the patient might have to visit due tothe nature of the patient's health issues, the prescriptions of thevarious doctors may be filled by a single pharmacist. In this regard,the pharmacist is preferably the one to review the pharmaceuticalregimen.

Preferably, the complete pharmaceutical regimen is reviewed and not onlya portion of the pharmaceutical regimen is reviewed. However, there maybe a lack of centralized recording which prevents review of the completepharmaceutical regimen. In this regard, the complete pharmaceuticalregimen may be obtained through various methods. One method is for thepharmacist to compile a list of medications which the patient has beentaking throughout the years. In other words, each time that the patientvisits the pharmacist to obtain a refill prescription or fill a newprescription, then the pharmacist may compile the list as the yearsprogress. The compiled list may be stored such as in a computer suchthat the reviewing step 10 may be accomplished by any pharmacist withadequate training and expertise. This will also require that the patientfill the prescription with the same pharmacist or entity such asMillennium Care Pharmacy of Los Angeles, Calif. throughout the years.Otherwise, the complete medication history of the patient may beunknown. In a second method, the complete pharmaceutical regimen may beobtained through the general doctor or a single doctor through whichhealth related issues are communicated to. In a third method, thecomplete pharmaceutical regimen may be obtained directly from thepatient. In this regard, the patient must be meticulous in recordingtheir current pharmaceutical regimen and their prior medication historyso as to be able to provide their complete pharmaceutical regimenhistory to the HCP. In a forth method, a medication dispenser as will bediscussed below in detail in relation to step 20 of providing medicationdispenser may be operative to assist the HCP in obtaining the completepharmaceutical regimen for review.

The reviewing step 10 may be accomplished during different stages of thepatient's life. The trigger which prompts a HCP such as a doctor orpharmacist to recommend to the patient that they should have theirpharmaceutical regimen reviewed may be from a serious life threateningevent. For example, at certain times in a patient's life, the patientmay be in an accident or undergo major surgery which requires thepatient to consume a plurality of pills 102 after the accident orsurgery. In this situation, the reviewing step 10 may be accomplishedafter the surgery or accident. At other times in a patient's life, thetrigger may be harder to determine such as when the patient's healthslowly and increasingly deteriorates. In this instance, the reviewingstep 10 may occur when the patient, doctor or pharmacist determines thatthe pharmaceutical regimen of the patient is too complex for the patientto comply with in the absence of a method or device to aid the patientto remain compliant with their pharmaceutical regimen. Moreover, thereviewing step 10 may be triggered in the normal course of the method,specifically, during steps 10, 20,30,40,50 within the method. Forexample, during the tracking step 30, when it has been determined thatthe patient may not have a sufficient supply of medication dispensers100. In another example, the reviewing step 10 may also be automaticallytriggered when the health care professional receives notification ofnegative information about a pill such as obsolescence. In thisinstance, the HCP who is typically in the health field may be notifiedof such recall or obsolescence may search in a database of patients toidentify patients taking the recalled or obsolete pills. At this time,the HCP may review the pharmaceutical regimen of those patients. If theHCP determines that the pharmaceutical regimen should be adjusted thenthe HCP may either contact the pharmacist or prescribing doctor torequest a change in the pharmaceutical regimen immediately, or notatethe suggested change in the patient's file such that the suggestion maybe approved at a later date and incorporated with the next shipment ofmedication dispensers 100.

The second step 20 includes providing the patient with at least onemedication dispenser 100. The medication dispenser 100 may be filledwith a plurality of pills 102 that make up the pharmaceutical regimen ofthe patient. The number of medication dispensers 102 provided to thepatient may be a function of pharmaceutical review interval and/or theinterval till the patient revisits the prescribing doctor(s) or otherfactors. For example, the pharmaceutical regimen may be reviewedquarterly. And, in this instance, the patient may be provided with threemonths supply of medication dispensers 100. However, if the patient'snext appointment is within one month, then the patient may be providedwith a one month supply of medication dispensers 100.

The medication dispenser 100 provided to the patient in step 20 maycomprise a pill flap 104 and an indicia flap 106, as shown in FIG. 2.The medication dispenser 100 may have an opened position, as illustratedin FIG. 3, and a closed position as illustrated in FIG. 4 with eachposition having a front and back side. The front open position isillustrated in FIG. 3, and the front closed position is illustrated inFIG. 4 as the top view thereof. The pill flap 104 may have formedthereon a plurality of compartments 108. The compartments 108 may betransparent from the front open position (see FIG. 3) of the medicationdispenser 100. Each compartment 108 may be sized and configured toreceive the pills 102. For example, each compartment 108 may have asquare or rectangular configuration. Each compartment may define aheight 110 (see FIG. 4). The size of the compartment 108 may be sizedand configured into other shapes to receive pills 102 in accordance withthe pharmaceutical regimen. The plurality of pills 102 within each ofthe compartments 108 may be removed on a per compartment 108 basis. Theremovability of the pills 102 within the compartment 102 may beaccomplished by manufacturing the compartment 108 with a thin flexibletransparent plastic material such that pressing against the compartments108 may release the pills 102 from the compartment 108. For example, thecompartment 108 may be blister packed, and the compartment 108 may bepressed from the front open position (see FIG. 3) such that the pills102 contained therein would penetrate through a penetrable membrane 112(see FIG. 2) through a back layer 114 of the pill flap 104.

On both sides of a front layer 116 of the pill flap 104, printed indiciamay indicate the time of day and day of week which the pill 102 shouldbe consumed, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. The indicia may be alignedwith respective compartments 108. For example, along the top of the pillflap 104, the following indicia may be printed: morning, afternoon,evening, and bedtime, and along the side of the pill flap 104, thefollowing indicia may be printed: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There may be a total of twenty eightcompartments arranged in seven rows and four columns.

The back layer 114 may have a series of apertures 117 which are alignedwith the compartments 108, and the back layer 114 may have thepenetrable membrane 112 attached thereon through an adhesive such thatthe penetrable membrane 112 is interposed between the front and backlayers 116,114 when they are folded on top of each other. A pressureadhesive or a heat activated adhesive may also be laid on the penetrablemembrane 112 such that the front layer 116 may be attached to the backlayer 114. The penetrable membrane 112 defines a portion of thecompartment 108 and in this regard, the adhesives may be selectivelyplaced on the penetrable membrane 112 such that the adhesive is not onthe portion of the penetrable membrane 112 which partially defines thecompartment 108. Additionally, the adhesive may not be placed onportions of the penetrable membrane 112 that may be exposed through theapertures 117. This is to avoid the pills 102 from sticking onto theadhesive when the patient attempts to remove the pills 102 from thecompartment 108, and to avoid the penetrable member 112 exposed thoughthe apertures 117 of the back layer 114 from adhering to dirt and otherdebris from the environment. A protective layer 118 may be placed on theadhesive located on the side of the penetrable membrane 112 whichattaches to the front layer 116 so as to protect the adhesive propertiesof the adhesive prior to filling the compartment 108 with respectivepills 102. Prior to filling the compartments 108 with pills 102, theback and front layers 114, 116 are laid open, as shown in FIG. 2. Then,the pills 102 are filled or inserted into respective compartments 108.During this filling or inserting of the pills into the compartments, theprinted indicia on the indicia flap 106 may be useful to the personactually filling the compartments 108 with the various pills 102 in thatthe printed indicia provides an accurate and convenient reference towhich the person may use to fill the compartments 108 to ensure that theproper pills 102 are being inserted into the proper compartments 108.The protective layer 118 may be removed and the back layer 114 may thenbe folded over the front layer 116. At this point, the front layer 116may be attached to the back layer 114 such as through pressure or heataccording to the type of adhesive.

The insertion of pills 102 within appropriate compartments 108 may beone means of improving communications between the patient, pharmacists,and/or doctor(s) in relation to the patient's pharmaceutical regimen.For example, instead of explaining in detail the consumptionrequirements of each individual pill 102 within the patient'spharmaceutical regimen, the consumption requirement of the aggregate ofpills 102 may be organized and presented to the patient in an easy toremember format. In particular, the patient may be instructed to consumea certain group of pills 102 during the day and during the week asindicated on the pill flap 104. In this regard, the patient may beadvised as to the consumption requirement of the aggregate of pillswithin the pharmaceutical regimen in addition to or rather than theconsumption requirement of each individual pill 102. This may be apreferred mode of communication between the pharmacist and the patientin that a summary is easier to remember compared to the numerous factsin relation to each specific pill 102. Moreover, the patient may not befamiliar with the technical terms of related to each pill 102 and may beconfused as to the meaning of all the trade terms that the pharmacistmay be using to instruct the patient in relation to a particular pill102.

The pill flap 104 may have horizontal perforations 120 between each ofthe days of the week. This allows the patient to tear off each daysprescription such that the patient does not need to carry the wholemedication dispenser 100 but may carry only the days worth of pills 102for that particular day.

The indicia flap 106 may have contained thereon printed matter in theform of a summary of the pharmaceutical regimen which may identify thepills 102 contained in the compartments 108, state the purposes of thepills 102 contained in the compartments 108, wam of possible interactionof the pills 102 with other pills 102, and state directions forconsuming the pills 102. The identification may be by name and/orpicture (e.g., black and white photograph, colored photograph, orsketch) of the pill 102 contained in the compartments 108. On theindicia flap 106, the patient may be instructed as to the pharmaceuticalregimen with respect to each individual pill 102. The indicia flap 106additionally helps patients to comply with the pharmaceutical regimen inthat certain pills may have to be taken prior to or after a meal whichmay be indicated on the indicia flap 106. As such, the patient mayremove from one compartment 108 a set of pills 102 and by referencingthe indicia flap 106 may quickly determine the interactions of thevarious pill 102 and a sequence of consuming the pills 102 if aparticular sequence is required. The printed picture or sketch of thevarious pills 102 allows the patient to identify which pills 102 are tobe taken before a meal and after the meal after reading the directionson the indicia flap 106. The printed picture or sketch also allows thepatient to ensure that the pills 102 within the medication dispenser 100has been inserted into the proper compartments.

The medication dispenser 100 when in the closed position may haveindicia printed thereon to notify or remind the patient of the place tocall for refills, the prescribing doctor's contact information, thepharmacist's contact information, and/or the HCP's contact information.The medication dispenser 100 may have printed indicia thereon which alsoindicate the date the medication dispenser 100 was refilled.

The third step 30 stated above in this method of aiding patients tocomply with the complex pharmaceutical regimen is the step 30 oftracking the quantity of medication dispensers 100 in the possession ofthe patient. As stated above, in providing step 20, the patient isprovided with a quantity of medication dispensers 100. Behind thescenes, the plurality of medication dispensers 100 given to the patientmay be tracked by a HCP such as a pharmacist, doctor or otherorganization. The medication dispenser 100 provides a quantity of pills102 to the patient for a set period of time. The HCP may with the aid ofa computer software track all patients within its system to determinewhen a particular patient's quantity of medication dispensers 100 aredepleted or may soon become depleted.

The fourth step 40 in this method of the present invention is contactingthe prescribing doctor to obtain authorization to refill the medicationdispensers 100. This step may be triggered as a result of the third step30 which is the step of tracking the quantity of filled medicaldispensers 100 in the patient's possession. In particular, the softwarewhich may be used to track the quantity of medication dispenser 100 mayautomatically remind the HCP to contact the prescribing doctor to obtainauthorization to refill the medication dispensers 100. For example, atset intervals such as every week or day, the computer may provide a listof patients who may need additional medication dispensers. The HCP maycontact the prescribing doctor to obtain authorization. During thisstep, the HCP may further review the pharmaceutical regimen with theprescribing doctor. Upon authorization from the prescribing doctor, asstated in step 50, the HCP may deliver additional medication dispensers100 to the patient either at their home or at another specifiedlocation.

Unless the context otherwise suggests or requires, the term pills 100used herein refer to any medication either prescribed by the doctor, anymedication that may be purchased over the counter, or any other type ofmedication. The term pill 102 used herein are for the purpose ofillustrating various aspects of the present invention and not for thepurpose of limiting the same. For example, the pill may be any drug ormedication that may be inserted into the compartment of the medicationdispenser.

This description of the various embodiments of the present invention ispresented to illustrate the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, and other inventive concepts may be otherwise variouslyembodied and employed. The appended claims are intended to be construedto include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.

1. A medication dispenser for maintaining a patient's compliance with apharmaceutical regimen, the pharmaceutical regimen setting forth aconsumption requirement of pills, the dispenser comprising: a. aplurality of compartments filled with respective pills uniquely arrangedand organized with respect to time to reduce a complexity of thepharmaceutical regimen, the pills within only one compartment beingremovable; and b. an indicia flap adjacent to the compartments havinginformation with respect to the pills.
 2. The dispenser of claim 1wherein the compartments have a box configuration.
 3. The dispenser ofclaim 1 wherein the compartments are transparent from an open frontposition of the dispenser.
 4. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein thecompartments are compressible.
 5. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein atleast some of the compartments are defined by a penetrable membrane suchthat pressing on the compartment will extract the pills of the pressedcompartment only.
 6. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein the compartmentsare arranged by time of day.
 7. The dispenser of claim 6 wherein thecompartments are further arranged by day of week.
 8. The dispenser ofclaim 1 wherein the compartments are attached to a pill flap and thepill flap has perforations grouping the compartments for a single dayssupply of pills to make the pills to be consumed that day convenient tocarry by the patient.
 9. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein theinformation relates to identification of the pills.
 10. The dispenser ofclaim 9 wherein the identification of the pills is through a graphicalimage of the pill.
 11. The dispenser of claim 10 wherein the graphicalimage of the pill may be in a form selected from the group consisting ofblack and white photograph, color photograph, sketch, identifying marks,pharmaceutical name, trade name and combinations thereof.
 12. Thedispenser of claim 1 wherein the information relates to directions toconsume the pills.
 13. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein the informationrelates to warnings of the pills.
 14. A medication compliance andmanagement method comprising: a. reviewing a pharmaceutical regimen of apatient to reduce a complexity of the pharmaceutical regimen; and b.providing a quantity of medication dispensers in accordance with thereviewed pharmaceutical regimen with pills of the pharmaceutical regimenorganized within the medication dispensers to further reduce thecomplexity of the pharmaceutical regimen.
 15. The method of claim 14wherein the review step is triggered by events selected from the groupconsisting of a notification of negative information with respect to apill, a notification that the quantity of medication dispensers providedto the patient is depleted, a requirement that the patient comply withthe pharmaceutical regimen and combinations thereof.
 16. The method ofclaim 14 wherein the reviewing step is accomplished by a health careprofessional.
 17. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step oftracking the quantity of provided medication dispensers to determinewhen the quantity of medication dispensers will be depleted.
 18. Themethod of claim 17 wherein the tracking step is accomplished with acomputer program to calculate an expected date when the providedmedication dispensers will be depleted.
 19. The method of claim 14further comprising the step of contacting a prescribing doctor to obtainauthorization to refill additional medication dispensers.
 20. The methodof claim 19 further comprising the step of delivering refilled pilldispensers to the patient.
 21. The method of claim 20 further comprisingthe step of repeating the contacting and delivering steps.